Description:
This report discusses the spatial distribution of the largest, most damaging floods in the United States and some of the factors that affect this distribution. Topics include regional climatology, topography, and basin size. A discussion of climatological factors includes the general northward trend of decreasing atmospheric moisture; proximity to oceanic moisture sources such as the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico; orientation of topographic features relative to directions of moisture flow; and regionally persistent versus locally intense conditions (precipitation).